“What?” I ask, feigning innocence. “Am I not allowed to check out the woman I’m dating?”
She crosses her arms, pressing her perky breasts together. She’s driving me fucking crazy, and I don’t think she even means to. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“Trust me,” I practically groan, stepping forward until there’s only an inch between us. “I couldn’t forget that night if I wanted to—which I don’t. It only makes it harder to keep my hands to myself.”
Her throat bobs on a swallow. This close, I can smell her intoxicating honey butter scent. There’s only a hint of it in the salty sea air but it’s already become familiar to me—comforting and erotic all at once. Fucking addicting.
“You’d be so lucky to get me in bed a second time,” she teases. It sounds more like a challenge than a threat but I was serious—I won’t push the boundaries with her until she says it’s what she wants. It might kill me, but at least it would be in her presence.
“Trust me, I know,” I tell her. It’s sincere but there’s a flirty undertone, making her roll her eyes.
I take my t-shirt off and catch her slyly checking me out. She told me multiple times that she loved my tattoos while tracing her fingers along the floral design. It wasn’t the only thing she liked about my body.
Insecurities aren’t something I’m familiar with, at least not when it comes to my looks and body. I’m tall and muscular, but I’m not ripped. My arms are thick and I don’t have defined abs. Not quite a dad-bod but a little on the huskier side.
Calypso is tall and thin, clearly someone who works out regularly, and almost every man’s fantasy. She could have anyone she wanted. I’m lucky enough that I seem to be exactly her type. At least physically.
By the time we’re getting settled on a nearby picnic blanket with non-alcoholic drinks in hand, Vivi and Lexi are walking back with two bags of ice and join us. Grady, Vivi, and my cousins come and go as the kids need their attention, but for the most part, we spend the afternoon hanging out under the large umbrella with her siblings and friends.
I came into the afternoon without any expectations, but genuinely enjoying the company of her and Lucas’s friends has a weight sliding off my shoulders. The real relief comes when I realize they seem to actually like getting to know me just as much.
There’s about an hour before sunset, and a lot of the other kids have started to leave.
After meeting Grady’s daughters, I’ve learned that Daisy, whose birthday we’re celebrating, is much more talkative than his eldest daughter Stella. Daisy and Matty’s friendship makes sense—he’s a shy, observant but fearless kid and Daisy is happy to fill in the silence.
Stella, on the other hand, is more reserved and cautious. When she isn’t playing in the sand with Jake, she is glued to Calypso’s side. It reminds me of my relationship with Jake. There’s a hundred coincidences and metaphors in that, I’m sure.
Jake, Matty, Daisy, her cousins and friends, are all playing in the ocean with Lucas and Blake, but Stella hasn’t even dipped her toes in. She looks at the water longingly every few seconds before glancing back at her dad, who is talking with a couple of the parents.
Calypso and I make eye contact, both aware of Stella’s desire to go into the water.
“Why don’t you go out there?” Calypso asks. “Your aunt is out there, and she’s the best swimmer in the group.”
Stella gives her a surprised look. “Better than Asher?”
I’ve learned that Blake was a competitive swimmer and teaches lessons part-time, but Asher was a semiprofessional surfer and offers courses at his shop.
Calypso winks at her. “Girl power, babe.”
Stella giggles but it dies quickly. “Dad always holds my hand.”
Over her shoulder, Calypso looks at me with a silent question in her eyes. Smiling because I love this soft side she only shares with a select few, I nod toward the water, telling her I’ll be okay on my own.
Calypso stands and wipes sand off her ass, making it jiggle a little.
Fuck me.
She holds her hand out to Stella. “Let’s go.”
Stella stands and eyes her suspiciously. “Youdon’t like the ocean.”
“Says who?”
“I’ve never seen you get in the water,” Stella argues but there’s no fight in her words.
Calypso waves her hand until Stella slips hers inside. “I spent my summers out here too—hell, I even know how to surf.”
“Really?” I ask from my spot on the ground.
